Max Verstappen initiated the idea of organizing a virtual sim race and donating the proceeds collected to charity

It has been revealed that it was Max Verstappen who initiated the idea of a sim race as a replacement for the canceled Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Team Redline, Verstappen's sim racing team, confirmed that they will run a virtual racing event, called Real Races Never Quit, at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari (aka the Imola circuit) following the cancellation of the Formula 1 race in Italy.

Verstappen heads an impressive line-up of drivers for the event which will take place on Sunday, May 21, on Team Redline’s Twitch channel. He is set to race alongside the likes of reigning Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovich, Alpine's reserve driver Jack Doohan and Mahindra Formula E team's Oliver Rowland.

Current F2 stars Richard Verschoor, Jak Crawford, Ayumu Iwasa, Isack Hadjar, and Enzo Fittipaldi, Australian Supercars driver Shane van Gisbergen, and former Red Bull junior Antonio Felix da Costa have also been confirmed to take part in the event.

Speaking about the event, Team Redline's director Atze Kerkhof told RacingNews365:

"The idea was all on the initiative of Max Verstappen himself. When it became clear that the F1 race was not going ahead, they approached us asking if we could set something up at short notice."

He added:

"We with Verstappen.com Racing work closely with Red Bull and so the question of which Red Bull juniors wanted to participate was quickly posed. Of course, we also knew some more names who also knew some more names, so that's how we were able to put together a nice list. We hope the event will be a success, sports-wise, but certainly also in view of the charity."

The 'Real Races Never Quit' was created in 2020 to keep fans entertained while COVID-19 put all motorsport activity on hold. The likes of Lando Norris, Lance Stroll, Stoffel Vandoorne, Antonio Felix da Costa, Nick Cassidy, and Scott McLaughlin have taken part before.

According to the latest reports, the event will now use four different cars in four different races: Formula 3 and Formula Ford, Mazda MX5, and the Toyota GR86 cars.

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"You have to be adaptive and change your driving style" - Max Verstappen on the benefits of sim racing

Max Verstappen loves spending time away from the track by taking part in sim racing. The Dutchman has even credited it with having a positive effect when he returns to race in Formula 1.

Speaking about how virtual racing has helped him become a better F1 driver, the Red Bull Racing driver told the Washington Post:

"The main thing is that on all the simulator platforms, I race non-Formula 1 cars. So, you have to be adaptive and change your driving style, since every car demands something else as far as steering input, throttle and driving lines."

He added:

"I'm constantly learning and adapting to what I need to do in each car to go as quick as possible. At the end of the day, that helps you when you go back to Formula 1, because you have all of this experience in the back of your mind. Sometimes you might not be entirely happy with the set-up of your Formula 1 car, but you can draw on all of your different experiences in the simulator."